Battery terminal

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to a battery terminal which can quickly and easily be secured to a battery post without the aid of tooling and which is resistant to battery acids relative to prior art battery terminals. This is provided by the use of a threaded connector element which is inwardly compressable by a threaded cap, resistant to battery acids and the like, which is threaded on to the connector and compresses the portions thereof inwardly to make a frictionally locking contact with the battery post.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [54] BATTERY TERMINAL [72] Inventor:

Great Britain.......................339/232 Peter Martin Bruner, Mechanicsburg, Pa. AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Feb. 19, 1970 [73] Assignee:

[22] Filed:

Primary Examiner-Joseph H. McGlynn Attorney-Curtis, Morris and Safford, Marshall H. Holcombe, William Hintze, William J. Keating, Frederick W. Rating,

21 Appl. No.: 12,792

John R. Hopkins, Adrian J. La Rue and Jay L. Seitchik ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl.......

[58] neworseiiiliill'fff..IIIIII.............................

.339/95, 232 The disclosure relates to a battery terminal which can quickly and easily be secured to a batte ry post without'the aid of tool- References Cited ing and which is resistant to battery acids relative to prior art battery terminals. This is provide d by the use of a threaded UNITED STATES PATENTS connector element which is inward] y compressable by a e, which is presses the portions y locking contact with 8 Wn P mm dd 6 66f ddOa aae ee Tree hhhh tttt Q 3 ZB BZZ //9/// 99 999 33 333 3E3 3 Lord Williams..................... Derby...................... Goeller......... Wallenberg... Cutter...........

e g s Patented May 16, 1972 3,663,927

I oxidized or caused to react with the battery 1 BATTERY TERMINAL This invention relates generally to battery terminals of the type used in automotive applications, and, more specifically, to a battery terminal which can be secured to a battery post without external tooling and which is substantially resistant to battery acids relative to prior art battery terminals.

Battery terminals of the prior art, as presently used, have required tooling for tightening a nut and bolt forming a part of the battery terminal device for tightly securing the battery terminal to the battery post. Such prior art battery terminals have also normally been corrodable due to battery acids which come in contact with the battery terminal and which are easily terminal due to oxygen in the air and otherwise.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a battery terminal which requires no tooling for installation and which is relatively resistant to battery acids as compared with prior art battery terminals. Briefly, the above is provided by utilizing a battery terminal which is formed from or plated with a material which is electrically conductive but-also resistant to the battery acids. Tin, a tin-lead combination or lead itself can be used in such devices. The battery terminal includes a terminal lug having a frusto-conically shaped portion which is inwardly tapered and has vertically disposed slots therein extending to but not through the upper surface of the lug and has a threaded exterior. As an alternative, the said slots may be disposed at an angle to the vertical. The interior of the frusto-conical portion is cylindrical with an inward taper of substantially the same or slightly smaller diameter than the battery post which is to be used therewith to provide a wiping action between the terminal and post during installation. The battery terminal of the present invention also includes a cap which is formed from an insulating material which is also resistant to battery acids such as nylon or the like. The cap is internally threaded for mating with the threads of the frusto-conical portion whereby, due to the slots in the frusto-conical portion, threading of the cap onto the exterior threads of the frusto-conical portion forces the frusto-conical portion inwardly to provide a tight fit between the frusto-conical portion and the battery post.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a battery terminal which may quickly and easily be secured to a battery post without the use of tooling.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a detachable battery terminal capable of repeated use without detrimental effect to the terminal contact portion of the battery post.

It is a yet further object of this invention to provide a battery terminal having substantially greater resistance to battery acid relative to prior art battery terminals.

The above objects and still further objects of the invention will immediately become apparent to those skilled in the art after consideration of the preferred embodiment thereof which is provided by way of example and not by way of limitation wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken through a connection between a battery terminal and a battery post;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a battery terminal in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of alternative cap constructions; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the figures, there is shown a battery terminal I having a wire barrel portion 2 with a terminal lug portion 4 coextensive and integral therewith. The terminal lug portion 4 has a generally central opening and a frusto-conical sleeve portion 6 extending upwardly in the central portion thereof and tapered slightly inwardly toward the top region thereof. The portion 6, which may be formed by standard metal drawing techniques, includes slots or notches 8 therein and an outward threaded portion 10. The slots 8 are made to extend downwardly into the upper surface of the lug portion 4,

as indicated at 20 in FIG. 3, but not to extend completely therethrough. The battery terminal member 1 is formed from an electrically conductive material having maximum resistance to corrosion to the normal battery acids. Terminals of this type would have a substantial portion of tin, tin and lead or lead.

Also forming a portion of the battery terminal, in accordance with the present invention, is a cap member or enclosure cap 12 having a hollow interior portion and having threads 14 in the interior portion for mating with the threads 10. The threaded portion 14 of the cap 12 can be tapered inwardly toward the more interior portions of the cap member to provide an inward compression of the frusto-conical portions 6 when threadedly engaging the cap 12 with the terminal member 1. The cap 12 can also include gripping ears 22, shown in phantom in FIG. 2A, or grooves 24 at the rim of the cap, as an aid in installation if desired.

The battery terminal member 1 is first secured to a battery cable 16 as shown in FIG. 1 by crimping the wire barrel 2 thereof to the battery cable 16. In operation, the frustoconical portion 6 of the battery terminal 1 will be placed over a battery post 18 with the frusto-conical portion 6 abutting the post 18. It will be noted that most battery posts 18 have an inward taper which is substantially the same as the inward taper of the frusto-conical portion 6. The frustoconical portion 6 is of a slightly smaller diameter at its top region than the post 18 so that it frictionally engages the post along the periphery of the post and provides a wiping action therewith. The cap 12 is then threaded on to the frusto-conical portion 6 during which time the slotted segments of the frusto-conical portion 6 are forced inwardly into tight mechanical and electrical engagement with the post 18. It will be noted that the lug 4 and barrel 2 are elevated above the surface of the battery. This is provided by adjusting the upward length of the frustoconical portion 6 and the size of the aperture within the cap 12. This arrangement insures that the battery terminal will not become short circuited against the battery holder. The interior of the portion 6 can have burrs or the like thereon to score the post 18 during installation and provide even better electrical connection.

The battery terminal in accordance with the present invention is highly resistant to corrosion due to the battery acids, not only in view of the materials used as shown hereinabove, but also because the cap 12 will extend downwardly over the frusto-conical portion 6 to abut its rim against the lug member 4. In this way, and because the slots 8 do not extend entirely through the lug member 4, but bottom at 20 as shown, oxygen from the air will have difficulty in circulating into the recess between the battery post 18 and the interior of the cap 12, thereby providing a poor atmosphere for any oxidation or other chemical reaction to take place.

Though the invention has been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment thereof, any variations and modifications thereof will immediately become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, the intention that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:

l. A battery terminal lug connector having selected parts thereof enclosed and protected from corrosive atmosphere, comprising:

an electrically conductive lug member having opposed surfaces and provided with a single generally central opening therethrough,

a frusto-conical externally threaded sleeve portion attached at one end thereof to one of said opposed surfaces of said lug member, said sleeve portion in encircling relationship with respect to said central opening of said lug member,

said lug member being fabricated from a corrosion resistant material protecting said lug member from corrosive at mosphere,

said sleeve portion being fabricated of an electrically conductive material,

a corrosion resistant internally threaded enclosure cap threadably received over said externally threaded sleeve portion, and

said enclosure cap having a rim abutting on said one opposed surface of said lug member with said cap and said lug member cooperating to enclose and cover said sleeve of conductive material and the entire length of each of said notches with corrosion resistant material for protecting said sleeve from contact with corrosive atmosphere. 

1. A battery terminal lug connector having selected parts thereof enclosed and protected from corrosive atmosphere, comprising: an electrically conductive lug member having opposed surfaces and provided with a single generally central opening therethrough, a frusto-conical externally threaded sleeve portion attached at one end thereof to one of said opposed surfaces of said lug member, said sleeve portion in encircling relationship with respect to said central opening of said lug member, said lug member being fabricated from a corrosion resistant material protecting said lug member from corrosive atmosphere, said sleeve portion being fabricated of an electrically conductive material, said lug member covering said one end of said sleeve portion and protecting said one end of said sleeve portion from contact with corrosive atmosphere, another end portion of said sleeve portion protruding from said one of said opposed surfaces of said lug member and provided with circumferentially spaced notches dividing said sleeve portion into segments, said notches including portions thereof terminating generally at said one opposed surface of said lug member, said lug member covering the terminating portions of said notches, a corrosion resistant internally threaded enclosure cap threadably received over said externally threaded sleeve portion, and said enclosure cap having a rim abutting on said one opposed surface of said lug member with said cap and said lug member cooperating to enclose and cover said sleeve of conductive material and the entire length of each of said notches with corrosion resistant material for protecting said sleeve from contact with corrosive atmosphere. 